FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 18, 2011 san jose sabercats 2011 season in review 2011 IN REVIEW sabercats 2011 schedule After a promising start, the SaberCats season ended in disap- DATE OPPONENT RADIO TV TIME (PDT) pointment with a 7-11 record. The SaberCats were hit hard with MAR. 11 SPOKANE SHOCK KLIV CSN W, 76-48 injuries this season as they totaled 23 different players on Injured Reserve in 2011 combining for 170 games missed which proved to MAR. 18 KANSAS CITY COMMAND KLIV W, 60-57 be insurmountable for the proud franchise. MAR. 25 @ CHICAGO RUSH KLIV CSN L, 54-41 San Jose’s season got off to a quick start as they took on the APR. 1 IOWA BARNSTORMERS KLIV L, 76-69 2010 defending ArenaBowl champion, the Spokane Shock, at HP APR. 8 UTAH BLAZE KLIV W, 75-55 Pavilion in the first home game played at HP since June 21, 2008. APR. 16 @ TULSA TALONS KLIV CSN W, 42-33 The team was led by a great all-around effort on both offense APR. 22 PHILADELPHIA SOUL KLIV W, 68-61 and defense as they dominated the Shock from start to finish for a 76-48 victory. The SaberCats would make it two in a row after de- APR. 30 BYE feating the Kansas City Command on a Juan Gamboa field goal MAY 7 ARIZONA RATTLERS KLIV L, 65-43 with two seconds remaining, putting San Jose ahead for good at MAY 14 @ PITTSBURGH POWER KLIV CSN L, 54-48 60-57. MAY 21 @ UTAH BLAZE KLIV CSN L, 76-68 On their first road contest of the season, San Jose traveled to MAY 28 GEORGIA FORCE KLIV L, 55-49 the Midwest to take on the Chicago Rush. The Rush proved to be JUN. 4 @ DALLAS VIGILANTES KLIV CSN L, 70-57 too much for San Jose as their defense forced three interceptions JUN. 11 BYE despite 15 receptions and 143 yards from WR Rodney Wright. The SaberCats would return home to face the Iowa Barnstormers in JUN. 18 @ ARIZONA RATTLERS KLIV CSN L, 64-57 one of the highest scoring games in the AFL in 2011 where they JUN. 25 @ CLEVELAND GLADIATORS KLIV CSN L, 82-21 lost by a final of 76-69. QB Mark Grieb threw for 391 yards and JUL. 1 JACKSONVILLE SHARKS KLIV W, 83-70 nine touchdowns but he was outdueled by Iowa QB Brad Banks. JUL. 9 ORLANDO PREDATORS KLIV W, 60-40 Looking for a victory, San Jose found one thanks to a boost in the JUL. 16 @ SPOKANE SHOCK KLIV CSN L, 63-61 secondary from All-Arena DB Eddie Moten who led the team with JUL. 23 @ TAMPA BAY STORM KLIV CSN L, 57-44 three passes defensed. On the offensive side of the ball, San Jose FB Chad Cook rushed for four touchdowns to seal the victory for the ‘Cats, 75-55. San Jose then traveled to Tulsa where they would sabermetrics earn their first road victory once again thanks to the strong play of 42,158 Number of career passing yards by QB Mark Grieb DB Eddie Moten who posted two interceptions in the 42-33 win. After a convincing 68-61 win over the Philadelphia Soul, San 10,057 Number of career receiving yards by WR James Jose took on their longtime rival, the Arizona Rattlers, in a battle for Roe first place in the division. The two teams were close until the final 817 Number of career receptions by WR James Roe twenty seconds that saw Arizona score 14 points for a 65-43 vic- 810 Number of career touchdown passes by Grieb tory. The SaberCats then suffered a franchise-long seven-game 114 Consecutive regular season starts by Grieb losing streak that saw them lose four games by no more than 103 Number of regular season victories by Grieb eight points in the final minutes despite impressive play from the team throughout the streak. During that stretch, FB Chad Cook 48 Number of 300-yard passing games by Grieb became the SaberCats’ single-season record holder for rushing 30 Number of rushing touchdowns by FB/LB Chad touchdowns at Pittsburgh on May 14. QB Mark Grieb reached Cook in 2011 40,000 passing yards vs. Georgia on May 28 in a game that also saw WR Ben Nelson reach 500 career receptions. 2011 STANDINGS The ‘Cats would rebound against the Jacksonville Sharks at home in a big way, who came in with the best record in the AFL. west division Behind QB Mark Grieb’s 402 passing yards and nine touchdown TEAM OVERALL PCT. PF PA passes, San Jose pulled out the 83-70 win, snapping the Sharks ARIZONA 16-2 .889 1114 836 13-game winning streak. The SaberCats would back their win up SPOKANE 9-9 .500 1058 1027 with a 60-40 victory over the Orlando Predators as WR Ben Nelson UTAH 9-9 .500 1082 1117 hauled in seven passes for 87 yards and a touchdown putting them in position for a playoff spot. SAN JOSE 7-11 .389 1022 1080 In their biggest test of the season, the ‘Cats traveled to Spo- kane where they controlled the tempo of the game until the fi- media contact nal seconds behind WR James Roe’s 11 receptions for 132 yards Ryan Donough, (408) 673-3400 and four touchdowns. Their hard work was undone by a Hail Mary [email protected] pass as time expired, however, as San Jose lost 63-61, eliminating them from playoff contention. They traveled to Tampa for their final game of the season, but were defeated 57-44 despite 315 passing yards from QB Mark Grieb. CATEGORY TOTAL AFL RANK WHERE SJ RANKED IN 2011 FIELD GOALS MADE 6 T-4TH SCORING (AMONG KICKERS) 136 T-5TH 2011 PAT KICKING PCT. 83.7 9TH CATEGORY WR/DB MERVIN BROOKINS CATEGORY TOTAL AFL RANK SABERCATS (RANK) RECORD AFL AVG. KICKOFF RETURN AVG. 18.3 9TH 56.8 (6TH) SCORING OFFENSE 53.4 MISSED FIELD GOAL RETURN AVG. 20.2 T-1ST 322.2 (1ST) TOT. OFFENSE/GM 291.8 DL FRANCIS MAKA 301.0 (2ND) PASSING YARDS/GM 267.6 CATEGORY TOTAL AFL RANK 21.2 (12TH) RUSHING YARDS/GM 24.1 FUMBLES RECOVERED 3 T-5TH 51.3 (4TH) THIRD DOWN CONV % 48.2 45.9 (12TH) FOURTH DOWN CONV % 49.1 players of the game 427 (1ST) FIRST DOWNS 372 22.0 (5TH) SACKS ALLOWED 28 OPPONENT OFFENSIVE DEFENSIVE IRONMAN 21.8 (8TH) OPP. RUSH YARDS/GM 24.1 SPO M. Grieb D. Mclean R. Wright 60.0 (16TH) OPP. POINTS/GM 53.4 KC S. Goodson F. Maka R. Wright 320.4 (18TH) OPP. TOTAL OFF/GM 291.8 @ CHI R. Michna G. Nyenhuis J. Simpson 298.6 (17TH) OPP. PASSING/GM 267.6 IOW B. Banks C. Perri C. Felder 43.9 (6TH) OPP. THIRD DOWN % 48.2 UTA M. Grieb G. Hypolite C. Nwokocha 52.5 (14TH) OPP. FOURTH DOWN % 49.1 @ TUL T. McBroom E. Moten F. Shaw 375 (10TH) OPP. FIRST DOWNS 372 PHI D. Morgan J. O’Neal C. Nwokocha 26.0 (13TH) SACKS 28 ARI R. Windsor V. Gray M. Brookins 17.7 (8TH) KICKOFF RETURN AVG. 18.3 @ PIT M. Grieb E. Moten C. Cook @ UTA T. Grady B. Taylor C. Bocage SJ WEEK-BY-WEEK RANKINGS GEO L. Shipp T. Belton M. Brookins @ DAL D. Ross C. Brown M. Brookins OFFENSE DEFENSE @ ARI N. Davila V. Hill J. Geathers TOTAL PASS RUSH TOTAL PASS RUSH @ CLE T. Bergeron L. Brown Q. Payne Week 1 12TH 12TH 6TH 18TH 18TH 2ND JAC J. Roe M. Robinson B. Nelson Week 2 8TH 7TH 12TH 18TH 18TH 2ND ORL B. Nelson T. Coleman M. Thomas Week 3 8TH 6TH 5TH 18TH 17TH 9TH @ SPO J. Roe B. Bell V. James Week 4 5TH 4TH 13TH 18TH 18TH 9TH @ TB A. Jackson M. Hawthorne M. Thomas Week 5 6TH 5TH 14TH 18TH 18TH 7TH Week 6 4TH 5TH 13TH 18TH 18TH 5TH american conference Week 7 7TH T-7TH T-14TH 18TH 18TH 4TH Week 8 7TH T-7TH T-14TH 18TH 18TH 4TH east division Week 9 7TH 7TH 13TH 18TH 18TH 7TH Week 10 6TH 6TH 12TH 18TH 18TH 7TH TEAM OVERALL PCT. PF PA Week 11 6TH 4TH 11TH 18TH 18TH 6TH CLEVELAND 10-8 .556 904 842 Week 12 5TH 4TH 11TH 18TH 18TH 5TH PITTSBURGH 9-9 .500 870 972 Week 13 2ND 4TH 12TH 18TH 18TH 9TH MILWAUKEE 7-11 .389 914 969 Week 14 2ND 4TH 2TH 18TH 18TH 9TH PHILADELPHIA 6-12 .333 872 867 Week 15 4TH 2ND 13TH 17TH 18TH 8TH south division Week 16 4TH 2ND 11TH 18TH 18TH 10TH TEAM OVERALL PCT. PF PA Week 17 1ST 2ND 12TH 18TH 18TH 9TH JACKSONVILLE 14-4 .778 1158 909 Week 18 1ST 1ST 12TH 18TH 18TH 9TH ORLANDO 11-7 .611 1001 933 Week 19 1ST 1ST 12TH 18TH 18TH 8TH GEORGIA 11-7 .611 1007 931 Week 20 1ST 2ND 12TH 18TH 17TH 8TH TAMPA BAY 7-11 .389 802 993 SJ INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS NEW ORLEANS 3-15 .167 826 1017 QB MARK GRIEB national conference CATEGORY TOTAL AFL RANK PASSING YARDS 5,312 1ST central division PASS COMPLETIONS 455 1ST PASS ATTEMPTS 676 1ST TEAM OVERALL PCT. PF PA COMPLETION PERCENTAGE 67.3 3RD CHICAGO 13-5 .722 957 833 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 98 5TH DALLAS 11-7 .611 1061 1007 FB/LB CHAD COOK TULSA 8-10 .444 894 889 CATEGORY TOTAL AFL RANK KANSAS CITY 6-12 .333 854 974 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 30 2ND IOWA 5-13 .278 916 1116 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 99 3RD west division RUSHING YARDS 294 7TH K JUAN GAMBOA TEAM OVERALL PCT.